Last of the Wilds
by TragischerRomantiker
Summary: Just married and all ready Anna's streak of bad luck has engulfed Declan in another mess... so how are they going to get out of it this time?


"No, no, no, no!" Declan cried as his car began slowing.

Anna didn't know much about cars, but she could only guess that if it was slowing down when Declan was clearly pressing on the gas pedal then that couldn't be a good sign. She would have asked if there was anything she could do to help the situation, but feared that any help she could offer would only make things worse. She waited patiently with wide eyes for Declan to explain to her what was wrong with his "classic" vehicle. She watched him rub the dashboard and repetitively turn the key in the ignition port only to hear a sickening wheezing sound respond from the engine. Defeated, Declan sat there in the driver's seat and just stared at the steering wheel in front of him and the speedometer that now read zero. "She's gone..." he said in a hushed tone, touching his forehead to the top of the steering wheel, "gone..."

The redhead in the passenger seat rolled her eyes and unbuckled her seatbelt, which immediately attracted Declan's attention. She stepped out of the car, deciding to take matters into her own hands. The confused driver poked his head out of the window and asked, "An' wha' d'you think _yer_ doin'?"

"Well, we can't just," Her speech became strained as she began to exert force on the back of the car, "leave... her in the middle... of the road... now can we?"

Declan allowed himself to smile a little, even though he could guess that Anna's thoughtful gesture was about to go terribly awry in the strangest possible way. Even after three days with the redhead American, Declan had learned what a handful she could be, and somehow, four months later they had ended up married. Declan saw the PRND3L clutch beside him and chuckled a little bit on the inside, moving the clutch from D to P. He figured he would just wait until Anna got tired and decided to get back in the car. He heard her from the rear asking him to come and help her because it was difficult to push the car off to the side of the road with a person still in it. Declan snickered. "Maybe it's jus' the weak girl pushin' 'er?" He offered with a snide smirk plastered on his face.

He watched Anna's mouth drop from his side-view mirror at his suggestion as he switched the gears back into 'drive' and stepped out of the car to join her. She glared at him with her hazel eyes. "How dare you call me weak!"

"Well it's true, isn' it? Can' ev'n move an ol' car to the side of the road." He waved her aside and spit on both of his hands before he began his own attempt at pushing the car aside.

Anna was in utter amazement. Whereas she couldn't move it more than an inch, Declan had been able to push it all the way off to the side without much effort at all. She smiled. That was the man she married; Declan was the man she loved. Some of her old friends still bugged her about her choice, but she was completely in love with the Irishman. Jeremy had nothing on this particular foreigner. Her relationship with the cardiologist had been four years mainly comprised of telephone calls and text messages back and forth. Then every once in a blue moon they would see eachother for a short timespan or an interrupted dinner. Sure he had money, but that was all their relationship was... money, fancy gifts, and short-lived conversations filled with long silences between them. Even just three days spent with Declan had been more eventful than that, and Anna could only imagine what four _years_ would bring with her new husband.

She waited as Declan untied Louie from the roof of the car and dug the rest of their luggage out of the trunk. Once all of their bags had been successfully pilfered from the old automobile, Declan was still searching for something. Anna perked a brow, curious as to what her husband was trying to track down. "Declan, what are you looking for?"

"I'm trying to find the map y' decided to toss into the back here, but I can' seem to find it anywhere!" Declan replied, scratching his head from the problematic enigma.

Anna made a face when he said he was trying to locate their map. "Er... you don't think it could have flown out the window on accident, do you?"

He turned to face his wife with a serious expression. "Damn well better not 'ave flown out the window, elsewise we're stuck out here!"

The redhead cringed. This was nearly a repeat of the last time she had decided to take a long road trip. Maybe it would be safer for all parties involved if she just confined herself to a single house for the rest of her life. At least then she wouldn't have to travel Ireland on foot all the time. Anna tried to think of something reassuring to say, but words failed her. She went with the generic, "I'm sure everything will turn out all right."

Declan's hunt for the map came to an abrupt halt. He remembered what she had said about her father, about how hurt she had always been after he said those very same words. His eyes burned with a sort of passion that Anna didn't think she had seen from him before. It wasn't lust, it was more like a sort of determination. Declan closed the gap between them and held her soft hands in his callused ones. "Anna, _promise_ me you will _never_ say that again... _Ever_."

When words failed her yet again, all she could do was nod and say, "Okay."


End file.
